


i'd promise you anything for another shot at life

by hummingbirdbandit



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Abuse of God Tier Powers, Background Relationships, Birthday, Boys In Love, Dave With A Twang, Earth C (Homestuck), Established Relationship, Fic Jam, Fluff, M/M, Post-Canon, Wriggling Day, background rosemary - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-12
Updated: 2018-06-12
Packaged: 2019-05-21 05:40:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,544
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14909411
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hummingbirdbandit/pseuds/hummingbirdbandit
Summary: Karkat took his time, gently untying the gorgeous red bow that Rose had made for him.  He placed the ribbon on the table and tore at the paper with a claw, and took the top off of the box.  He gasped.





	i'd promise you anything for another shot at life

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Wriggling Day, Karkat! Written for the Karkat Thirst Server, and the Strilonde Fan Jams server flash sprints. I finally wrote something that isn't depressing!

Dave hadn't set a finger on his cape in months.  Every time he tried, Karkat swooshed it away with some excuse about "laundry," or "it being fucking frigid on this hideous rock of a planet, seriously Dave, do you want me to freeze?" or "you look better in your jeans than your god tier pajamas and the cape looks silly."  He didn't think much of this (other than a baseline annoyance, his cape was sweet) until the day he came home early from his Strider Day Trip. He and Dirk had been trekking through the Texan desert, keeping note of new species for Jade and getting some bro time in, when Dirk received an Emergency Boyfriend Call and had to head home.  Dave didn't mind - it just gave him an excuse to surprise Karkat.

When he came home and found Karkat standing in front of the mirror in his cape, chest puffed out and fire in his eyes, it was Dave's turn to be surprised.  He watched silently as Karkat let out his breath, deflating, and curled the cape around him in a comforting gesture that Dave recognized well. "Doesn't matter.  Stupid fucking god tier powers. Flying isn't that great! Don't know what all the fuss is about." He sighed, and plopped down in front of the mirror to stare at himself longingly.

Dave kicked himself.  All of the little things he had noticed about Karkat's demeanor clicked into place, and Dave cursed his brain for missing it.  Karkat felt out of place being one of the only ones who didn't make it to god tier. That was why he wanted the cape. That was why he wouldn't go on outings without Kanaya around.  It was so obvious, and Dave had overlooked it in favor of what, being a dense idiot? Wait, that was pretty par for the course actually. He shook himself out of his realization and floated back to the front door, opening and closing it loud enough to echo, and walking through the house.  Last thing he needed to do was embarrass Karkat.

"KK, you home?" Dave called, already formulating a plan.  By the time Karkat greeted him, all sharp teeth and loud complaints and soft kisses, he had an idea.

* * *

Rose was more than happy to help.  Dave knew she would be, especially since his idea was for Kanaya's benefit as well - unfortunately, they needed to enlist her help, so keeping it a secret from her wasn't really possible.  He had a month until Karkat's wriggling day, and he was determined to make the most of it. Rose planned, Kanaya sewed, and Roxy (in all her bubbly enthusiasm) pulled party favors and ideas out of thin air.  With only two days until his surprise, all there was left to do was wait.

Dave sat by the couch, lifting a barbell while he and Karkat watched some Alternian romcom with a ridiculous name like "In Which A Limeblood Who Escaped The Brooding Cavern Culling As A Wiggler Pursues A Flushed Quadrant With A Highblood Seadweller And Uses His Newfound Power To Circumvent Typical Empirical Customs, Saving The Life Of The Jadeblood Who Helped Him To Escape His Fate, Thus Flipping His Flushed Quadrant Pitch When He Waxes Flush For The Jadeblood: Contains Seventeen On-Screen Explosions, Several Caste Slurs, A Concupiscient Scene Suited For Trolls Eight Sweeps And Older, And Treasonous Mentions - To Recreate This Story Means Death By Empirical Decree" or something.

Karkat hadn't questioned his sudden burning desire to work out, and Dave was glad - it would give away his plans if he tried to lie.  He was never good at lying to Karkat.

"Dave, can we... talk?" Karkat asked, muting the movie.  Dave immediately broke out into a cold sweat. Karkat never stopped his movies mid-scene, which meant whatever he had to say was important.  Worst-case scenarios ran through his mind like the roadrunner on an Arizona street - Karkat was breaking up with him, he found out about the surprise, he thought Dave's new haircut looked stupid, he'd been faking in the bedroom and thinks they're incompatible.  Any of these things were equally likely in the mind of Dave "Oh Fuck He's Looking Right At Me What Do I Do" Strider.

"Sure, Karkat, I'm always down to chat.  What's on your mind?" Nailed it.

"My wriggling day is coming up and I know there's no way you don't know that because you never forget anything that goes on that calendar in your pan.  I don't want you to get me anything. I know humans are weird with their wriggling day parties and whatever but all my day reminds me of is how terrible my life on Alternia was, and I don't need a reminder of that every year.  Can we just... not make it a big deal, please?"

Dave could feel himself pale visibly.  "Uh..." Shit, shit, abort mission, this was bad!

Karkat's eyebrows hitched together in frustration and he sighed heavily.  "You already planned something, didn't you? Some elaborate party to celebrate, with gifts and all of our friends and a fucking parade in my honor, is that it?"  Dave swallowed.

"Not the parade?" he offered, trying to look as apologetic as possible.

Karkat gave him an exasperated look - and promptly started to laugh.  "How did I know! I knew you couldn't just let me off with a normal day, that would be too much for you!"  He shook his head, wheezing, and leaned against Dave's arm with a frustrated noise. "Fine. Fine! We'll have your fucking party, Dave.  But next sweep, we stay home. Parties are exhausting."

Dave relaxed and ran his hand through Karkat's hair, breathing out a long, tense breath.  "Okay, good, because like, Rose and Roxy got involved, so you know I couldn't shut it down now without facing some dual-Lalondian wrath, and I'm pretty sure that counts as a just death. 

* * *

The day of the party, Dave woke up before the sun.  He was absolutely buzzing with energy, but he knew that waking Karkat would start this day off to a very bad start, so he busied himself cleaning the house and laying out food for breakfast.  He even used his time powers to see when Karkat would wake, powering through the discomfort so he could finish their eggs just as Karkat blinked himself awake. Karkat came plodding into the kitchen, wrapped in Dave's cape and wearing nothing but a pair of Invader Zim boxers that Dave had alchemized as an ironic gesture of affection.  The sight made Dave smile, and he paused his cooking to float across the room, pulling Karkat into a gross morning-breath kiss that he just couldn't bring himself to mind.

"Mornin,' sweetpea," he said, nuzzling Karkat's cheek and running over the day's plans in his mind to make sure nothing was missing.  Breakfast was offered, and accepted, and Dave watched dreamily as Karkat ate, a light blush tinting his grey skin from the attention. It was always intense for him when Dave left his shades off, so of course today of all days, Dave had tucked them into a drawer and left them behind.

They washed dishes side by side, exchanging pleasantries and sweet words, and Karkat grew brighter and brighter red with each moment.  Finally, he sighed and placed a dry plate in the cupboard. "So what are we doing today, Dave?" he asked.

"Thought you'd never ask."  Dave grinned, taking Karkat's hand and leading him to the living room, where a small box rested on the (miraculously clean, he should try this nervous thing more often) table.  Karkat took a seat, and Dave placed the package in his lap, grinning madly and resting beside him. "Go ahead, open it."

Karkat took his time, gently untying the gorgeous red bow that Rose had made for him.  He placed the ribbon on the table and tore at the paper with a claw, and took the top off of the box.  He gasped.

Dave knew what was in the box - he had spent days making sure it was perfect, learning enough code to pull the images from Skaia's system to find the right colors and symbols - but seeing Karkat unwrap it sent his heart pounding like it had when Kanaya had delivered it.  It was a knight's outfit, in the dark browns and reds of the blood aspect, complete with Karkat's very own cape. The fabric was soft and warm, not self-cleaning like his own God Tier outfit, but arguably more comfortable. Dave waited for Karkat to take it out, to try it on and take his birthright, but instead Karkat shook beside him.  It jolted him out of his prideful staring, and he placed a gentle arm around Karkat's shoulders, worried.

"You don't like it?"  Karkat shook his head, and a tear dripped down his face.  He wiped it away frantically - his blood still scared him - and finally,  _ finally _ removed it from the box.  He cradled it to his chest and leaned heavily against Dave, knocked speechless.

Dave held Karkat close to him until the crying stopped, rubbing his horns gently like he learned from Kanaya.  "You wanna try it on?" he asked quietly, placing a kiss to Karkat's hair. A smile graced his lips when Karkat nodded his approval.

In moments, Karkat was dressed in his own God Tier clothes, staring at himself in the mirror and smiling weakly, occasionally sniffling and rubbing at his eyes.  Dave floated up behind him, his own cape back around his shoulders and the comfort of his clothes reminding him of their days cuddling on the meteor. "You made it, KK.  The guys are waiting for us to celebrate. Wanna go see 'em? If you wanna stay here, we can." He meant it - he didn’t want to overwhelm Karkat. But the troll just nodded, and stepped away from the mirror.

"Sure.  Let's go."  He started on his way to the trasportalizer, but Dave dragged a yelp out of him when he picked him up from behind, lifting him off the ground and floating him to the door.

"Why walk when you can fly?" he asked quietly, speeding out into the day.

Karkat let out a shout as Dave shot out the door, scrabbling at the boy until he realized that he wasn't going to be dropped.  Relaxing a bit, he leaned back into Dave's grip. "What are you doing?" he asked over the whoosh of the wind. Dave laughed.

"I'm not doin' shit, Karkat, just following you.  You steer." Karkat leaned to the left and Dave banked, letting him guide them across the land.  Karkat's face lit up at the realization and he leaned back, shooting higher into the air and whooping in exhilaration.  Dave thanked the weeks of weights for his ability to carry Karkat so easily, and laughed along with him, pressing a gentle kiss to the back of his neck.  "Party is at Rose's place. You know how to get there?"

With a nod, Karkat leveled them out of their ascent and redirected them, breathless and smiling wider than he ever has.  He felt strong, and powerful, and in control. He felt happy, and it was all thanks to Dave's inability to let anything go.  For once, it didn't irritate him. For once, he was glad.

They arrived at the party to a smattering of applause, led by a jumping and hollering Roxy.  She rushed to them, leaping into the air to greet them and lead them to the ground. A banner, painted in John's messy scrawl, read "HAPPY GOD TIER!" and underneath it rested a giant cake, presumably Jane's contribution.  Kanaya stood in a place of honor, dressed in a sylph's robes and smiling up at them as they landed.

"Thought you'd feel better if you weren't the complete center of attention," Dave explained into Karkat's ear as he set him gently on his feet.  His arms ached, but he ignored it in favor of watching Karkat's elation. Hugs were exchanged, and greetings, and Dave sighed happily as Karkat and Kanaya spoke in rapid Alternian, chittering and laughing.  He did good. For once, he didn't fuck up his gift-giving. Karkat was happy, and that was all that mattered.

"Dave, can I talk to you?"  Roxy tapped him gently on the shoulder and tugged him away from the crowd.  He gave her a questioning look.

"What's up, Rox?  Something go wrong?  Fireworks not set? You finally realize how bad of an idea it is to have fireworks at a party where everyone flies, in a place prone to brush fire?"  Roxy giggled.

"No, no, none of that, I just.  May have overdid it? Jake and I were talking and we got to thinking and wishing and well.  You know that we don't know if Karkat and Kanaya..." She trailed off. The joy caught in Dave's throat, warping into a nervous energy.  He had thought about it, yes. Panicked about it, too. There was no guarantee that Karkat was immortal, just from gaining the Ultimate Reward, and they hadn't been here on Earth C long enough to know for sure if he was aging.  A life without him was unthinkable... so Dave had pointedly not thought about it.

"What are you saying, Roxy?"

Roxy shifted from foot to foot anxiously.  "Well, Jake and I have some super weird, rockin' powers and we can do absolutely CRAY-ZAY stuff when we get together to jam it out, and um."  She reached into her pocket, pulling out what looked like a piece of doll furniture and handing it to Dave.

But it wasn't doll furniture.  It was a quest bed, with the blood symbol engraved on it, just small enough to fit in his hand.  Dave nearly dropped it, his hand twitching away like it burned him. "How did you do this?" Roxy shrugged.

"Hope is fucking scary, Dave, and I've been practicing my own badass superpowers a lot.  I made it, and Jake made it work. We think. No way to really know unless he tries it. We thought... it could be a good backup.  In case..." Her chipper demeanor faltered. "We made Kanaya's, too. Happy God Tier, and all."

Dave was speechless.  He stared at the bed in his hand, a perfect answer to an eternity alone, and choked up.  Movement in the corner of his eye had him shoving the bed into his pocket, trying to hide his distress.

"You okay Dave?" Karkat asked, giving Roxy a confused look.  She just grinned at him, ruffling his hair.

"Yeah, KK, it's all good here.  Just discussing the lights show for later tonight.  Had to make sure we had enough fireworks to put a hole in the ozone - that fucker has been slacking."

Karkat's instant lapse into a rant on protecting the fledgling environment put Dave at ease, and he willed himself to put thoughts of the quest bed away for the time being.  He would bring it up later, when the discussion came up again, but for now, he was just glad to be here, with a shouting, bitching troll in his arms and in his heart. The bed in his pocket felt a little lighter.

 

  
_imperfect boys with their perfect ploys_

_nobody wants to hear you sing about tragedy_


End file.
